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Van Dyck, Sir Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Van Dyck or Vandyke, Sir Anthony both: văn dīk [key], 1599–1641, Flemish portrait and religious painter and etcher, b. Antwerp. In 1618 he was received as a master in the artists' guild, but even ...

boa

(Encyclopedia)boa bōˈə [key], name for live-bearing constrictor snakes of the family Boidae, found mostly in the Americas. This family, which also comprises the egg-laying pythons of the Old World, includes the ...

lentil

(Encyclopedia)lentil, leguminous Old World annual plant (Lens culinaris) with whitish or pale blue flowers. Its pods contain two greenish-brown or dark-colored seeds, also called lentils, which when fully ripe are ...

llanos

(Encyclopedia)llanos yäˈnōs [key], Spanish-American term for prairies, specifically those of the Orinoco River basin of N South America, in Venezuela and E Colombia. The llanos of the Orinoco are a vast, hot reg...

Mackenzie, Alexander, Canadian political leader

(Encyclopedia)Mackenzie, Alexander, 1822–92, Canadian political leader, b. Scotland. Emigrating (1842) to Canada, he worked first as a stonemason in Kingston, Ont., and then as a builder and contractor in Sarnia....

Mayakovsky, Vladimir Vladimirovich

(Encyclopedia)Mayakovsky, Vladimir Vladimirovich vlədyēˈmĭr vlədyēˈmĭrəvĭch mīˌəkôfˈskē [key], 1893–1930, Russian poet and dramatist. Mayakovsky was a leader of the futurist school in 1912, and he...

mamba

(Encyclopedia)mamba, name for African snakes of the genus Dendroaspis, in the cobra family. Widely distributed throughout Africa except in the deserts, mambas have extremely toxic venom. When attacking they raise t...

Manchester terrier

(Encyclopedia)Manchester terrier, breed of sleek, alert terrier developed in England in the 19th cent. There are two varieties, the standard and the toy (see toy dog). The standard variety stands from 14 to 16 in. ...

Hampton, Lionel

(Encyclopedia)Hampton, Lionel, 1908?–2002, African-American vibraphonist and bandleader, b. Louisville, Ky. When his family moved to Chicago c.1916, the young Hampton began playing drums in a newsboys' band. He m...

Hofstadter, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hofstadter, Richard hōfˈstătˌər, hŏfˈ–, hôfˈ– [key], 1916–70, American historian, b. Buffalo, N.Y. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1942 and began teaching there in 1946, becoming...